Helping a Brother - Crimea Helping a Brother - During the Crimean War (1853-56) the Russian held city of Sevastopol was besieged by British and French forces. On the 8th September 1855 the British forces made an assault on the Great Redan, a key part of the city’s fortifications; despite heavy casualties they did capture […]

The First Aprons reference - when and where? The First Aprons - the first reference to clothing in the Volume of the Sacred Law is found in Genesis, chapter 3, paragraph 7. It reads: ‘And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, […]

'I Am Norwell Roberts' is now available to buy at Freemasons' Hall. As you may know Norwell Roberts QPM was London's first black police officer, symbol of acceptance, of a diverse police force, of a changing Britain, and is today a proud Freemason, but did you know that Norwell Roberts is a Past Master of […]

Military Musicians in Masonry Military Musicians - Music and singing has always been popular at Masonic meetings and events; and military Brethren would sometimes make use of their unit’s bandsmen to provide that music. The Colonel of the Edinburgh Castle Garrison had bandsmen from the Royal Scots Fusiliers Initiated, Passed & Raised so that they could play at his Installation ceremony; and in 1872 at the first festive board of the Sandeman Lodge No.1374 in Bengal […]

Keep Calm and Carry On Keep Calm and Carry On - In 1940 the Kaisar-I-Hind (Empress of India) Lodge No.1274 were holding their meetings at Pagani’s restaurant in London. The lodge stored its fine set of table silver at the restaurant; but sadly on the 4th October the restaurant was destroyed in an air raid. […]

Calling Off Possibly the longest ever ‘Calling Off’’ took place at the Artillery Lodge No.148 in Gibraltar. This lodge was meeting in 1779 when the Spanish army fired the first shots in the Great Siege of Gibraltar; most of the lodge members were artillery men so the lodge was quickly ‘Called Off’ so they could […]

Customs - Cannon Fire Cannon Fire - The custom of Firing is not exclusively Masonic; it derived from an old tradition at military or civic events of firing cannons or muskets to mark a toast. There have been Masonic instances of such real firing; in 1741 the Vernon Lodge in Dublin held an open-air celebration where […]

Freemasonry - A home away from home A home away - Visiting other lodges has always been a key element of Freemasonry, especially for military Brethren who are often stationed far away from home. We know that military Brethren would often form their own lodges in prisoner-of-war camps; and during the Seven Years’ War (1756-63) […]

Travelling Lodges Travelling Lodges - In the 18th and 19th centuries the English, Irish, and Scottish Grand Lodges would all issue travelling lodge warrants to military units; these warrants would travel with those units around the world, enabling them to meet wherever they were stationed. They would help to carry English Freemasonry to such distant parts as South Africa, Bermuda, India, Malaysia, […]